Granular product or dry bulk material, such as grain or corn, may be stored and shipped in bulk containers such as railroad tank cars, tank trailers, hoppers, and pipelines for transportation from one site to be delivered to another site. The delivered product exits from the storage compartment of the transport carrier, such as its tank trailer, through a tee attached to the bottom of the trailer. The tee is connected to a source of pressurized air for assisting and directing the exiting material into a hose or a pipe. The exiting material then flows through the hose or the pipe for delivery to a storage facility or location of usage.
Numerous types of tees, and flow lines, principally for conveying dry bulk granular product or material from a tank trailer have long been available. Usually the tee will connect onto the bottom of a discharge port from the tank trailer, to deposit the granular material by gravity into the flow line, while pressurized air introduced into and also flowing through the flow line, and the tee, conveys the granular material to another location, for either storage or other uses and processing. Typically, the types of prior art couplers that were normally employed to interconnect the flow line with the tee would include an older cam lock interconnecting device, which generally changed the internal diameters of the flow line, as it transitioned onto the tee, and exiting the same, so as to cause a turbulence and disruption in the flow of the granular material as it was being conveyed from the tank trailer. In addition, interconnecting of such flow lines to the tee through the older style of lock required some physical dexterity, to get these two parts interconnected, and to operate satisfactorily. The transition from the tee to within the flow line usually provided a change to a different diameter, which could disrupt the routine of flow of the granular material under air pressure, and cause such turbulence to effect a reduction in the speed and efficiency of the unloading process. This further caused a pressure drop during usage of such prior art devices which also reduced the speed and efficiency of the unloading process. Furthermore, the use of the locking cams, within their grooves, would result in excessive wear to the entire tee, and which would necessitate a replacement of the tee, on a more frequent basis, than desired.
Furthermore, the usual form of interconnection of the cam locking device, of the older prior art styles, would necessitate a threaded connection of its coupling with the flow line, and which would create that inequality in the internal diameters between the cam lock coupling, and the hose and pipe to which it connected, which caused the type of disruption in flow, as previously reviewed, which would lead to inefficiencies in discharge of the dry bulk material, and an undesired pressure drop, during usage.
Another prior art type of means for connection of the flow line and its pipe to the tee included that threaded fitting, that would screw onto the approximate end of the tee, and the problem with this type of connection is that usually some of the threads formed internally of a coupler would be exposed to the passing granular material, and hence, once again, caused disruption of flow, turbulence in the movement of the dry bulk material, which would lessen, once again, the efficiency of conveyance of the bulk material from the tank trailer, etc., to a distant location for either unloading, storage, or for further processing. The female threads contained within its coupler would remain exposed when tightened on the male threads of the tee of this prior art type device, and which could also create an area for contamination, where the bulk material may become embedded, and soiled (see FIG. 8). As previously reviewed in earlier patents, the trapping of the bulk material from one load, if it gets intermixed with another or subsequent load of a different bulk material, can and would contaminate, and in some instances, require an entire disposal as waste of the later conveyed dry material. Furthermore, having exposed threads within the flow line, from the threaded coupler, also furnished an abrasive location, where disruption of the flow of the granular material would occur, thereby acting as an excessive friction and wear point, leading towards a wear out of the tee, and its coupler, at that location, requiring their total replacement.
A further type of coupling means, used in the prior art, would provide a perimeter clamp that would surround and span the gap between the end of the coupler, and the end of the tee, to secure the two together. The problem with that type of coupling was that there was normally a gap formed between these two components, and the gap between the fitting and the flow line or pipe was a source for contamination, and wear, as aforesaid, that would accelerate the fatigue of the components, at that location, as a result thereof. In addition, the use of that type of a fitting coupler would require the acquisition and use of an additional form of a grooved coupler, to hold the pipe or flow line in place, and to connect with the previously defined tee coupler.
The concept of this current disclosure is to greatly simplify and accelerate the interconnection of the pipe or flow line to a tee, through a cam coupler, that has uniformity of internal diameter and contours, and also assumes a quick interconnection through the use of its cam locking feature, that is unexposed to any bulk material passing through the tee or flow line, and which interconnection can be readily made by an individual worker, between the flow pipe, through the tee, during an unloading process.